Hospital cleaning is not just for outbreaks

WASHINGTON — A hospital should be cleaned properly all the time, not just when a deadly bacteria outbreak occurs, according to a press release.

According to the release, a letter to the editor featured on the Web site BCLocalNews.com points to the most recent outbreak of Clostridium difficile (C. diff) at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) in Vancouver, British Columbia, and noted, "It''s time the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) did something more than stepping up surveillance and monitoring and increased cleaning. Shouldn''t that be a normal behavior? Shouldn''t the hospital be cleaned properly all the time, not just when a deadly bacteria outbreak occurs?"

The editorial writer also took aim at the lack of hand hygiene: "Health officials have attributed this outbreak to ''improper hand hygiene.'' I think that means people aren''t washing their hands, or not washing them properly. It boggles my mind to think that the staff, after all of the outbreaks, publicity and lessons on how to wash their hands, still can''t do it properly."

On January 10, the VIHA Infection Prevention and Control program declared the current outbreak of C. diff to be over, the release noted.

The VIHA stated, "The presence of C. diff in hospital settings is not new and is not unique to VIHA; it presents challenges to health care providers throughout the industrialized world. Declaring the outbreak early ensured staff, physicians, patients and visitors had heightened awareness around increased infection control practices, and that sufficient resources were in place to contain the outbreak."